The EU RoHS had mandated the use of non-toxic solder which does not contain lead. The result is solder mostly containing tin. This is weaker than the previously used lead-tin solder and stress cracking is common. For example, a particular graphics processor unit that my friend had used to stop working from failed solders. This was known problem and he managed to fix it twice by actually baking the board in the kitchen oven!

In addition, tin has the strange tendency to grow "whiskers". These can touch whiskers growing from adjacent solder joints and cause short circuits. This is a big problem in surface mounted device boards where gaps between solder joints are very small.

I am very tempted. But a long list of stuff I need to spend money on when it comes to my cars, house, photography first. My wife has not forgotten I already invested in a 3D printer with friends some years ago. The rules of a happy marriage, you can not win when they ask “what is wrong with the one you have got”. So I am not even going there at the moment.

What is very interesting is 3D printer service. Which means you do not invest in the printer yourself, but your 3D designs get printed on some very professional machines and send to you overnight.

In my neck of the woods laser cutting and laser marking services are available. Not so for 3D printing. Maybe with the industrial downturn some organisations which used it inhouse will start offering it as a service.